Distrust
by Abloom
Summary: Second in trilogy. Marine failed to show any emotion at all anymore, except for increasing pride and rage at her own stupidity and foolishness. She is sent on a very long boat ride to Jhoto with...epilogue chapter up! Steven X OC
1. Bad Day

AN: Yay! The first chapter is up finally! It told you it would be up Melissa! This chapter is sort of short though. But, this chapter is dedicated to my Steven-bashing sister, who's currently jabbering next to me about spam. But I don't bash Steven...well...sorta.

* * *

"Ugh, did I really bike through the night?"

"Meta!"

"Guess I did, you have to wonder why my father sent me down here anyway. Honestly, it's quite a trip from Mossdeep to there. Couldn't he just tell me on the phone? But no, apparently I have to meet someone. And on my break too…"

Steven sighed, remembering the supposed-to-be-month-long vacation from fesearch that should still be going on. But, it ended up that three days into it, he had to take a month-long trip to Rustboro to see his father. As if he didn't see enough of him already, his father called practically every day to give him orders as his boss, and errands as his parent. He remembered the urgent call vividly…

_Bing! Bing! Bing!_

_Steven had ignored the call, only to have it haunt him a few seconds later._

_Bing! Bing! Bing!_

_He turned the phone on to only have his father start yelling at him, thinking that it was the voicemail again._

"_Steven! You better pick this up or I'm going to-"_

"_No, no, don't do that. It's me; you do know I'm on vacation now…or did it completely flee from your mind, despite the fact that you're the one who gave it to me in the first place?"_

"_Whatever, I really honestly don't care. You need to come to Rustboro now!"_

"_You do know it's a month's journey, right?"_

"_Well get here now!"_

_The phone went dead before Steven could shout a comment about how he can't defy time and space, even if it was just_ _for his father, and his only audience to his witty comment was the dial tone._

"_Guess I'll be a month late…"_

And here he was, a month later, on his mach bike bumping into stones and pulling all-nighters when he could be sleeping in an actual bed.

"Oh God, some people don't know exactly how good a bed is until they have to go a month straight without one."

His metagross apparently agreed, and grunted its agitation.

It kept coming to his mind, although they were only a half-a-mile from Rustboro. What was _it_, you ask? Sleep of course! And his mind was trying the hardest to keep on task, but, like many things, it kept getting harder. And harder, and harder, and…

"HEY! Watch out you lazy-eyed moron!"

He heard hooves clapping together, a muffled scream, a thump, and finally his own bike running into a tree. He got up after a few moments, his eyes wide open from all the adrenaline. His pupils scanned the now-chaotic environment, and he sighed.

"Oh, great."

What he saw was a shiny rapidash grazing by the road, and a cloaked figure laying beside it, its head leaned on a stump. He quickly walked over, wondering if he killed anyone with dark humor in his mind. Turning the body over revealed a black-haired woman clad in the darkest of blues, looking like she was a little younger than himself. He pulled back a strip of her ebony hair, showing a huge red welt. But what a perfect face it revealed.

"Yes, I'm going to have to remind my hand to slap myself once she starts breathing again…wait, she's not breathing? Oh that's perfect, I can see the introduction now: Hello, I think you're wonderful, and I just saved your life by swapping spit with you."

But, then again, he knew what he had to do, and his face inched towards hers, closing the distance. But then something hit him…

No, seriously, something hit him…hard. The something happened to be the woman's fist as it connected with his forehead, knocking him out. Some vacation this turned out to be.

* * *

Marine awoke strangely and suddenly to a screaming headache, and more strangely to a random guy trying to kiss her. So what to do with a millisecond to spare? Well, if you have something along Marine's line of thought, you would know that you would just knock them out, and shake off the pain of your head. So, hence, she was confronted with an unconscious moron who, turns out, was just trying to revive her.

"Perfect, how exactly am I going to explain this?"

She quickly got him up on her now-not-spooked horse and headed towards Rustboro swiftly, ignoring quizzical looks that were given to her as she neared the city. Marine soon met her boss, who gave an am-I-dreaming look to her almost immediately.

"What _is _my son doing? Or rather, what did you do to him?"

Marine's eyes were met with a suggestive stare, and her cheeks quickly gained color.

"God sir, who exactly do you think I am?"

He looked disbelieving.

"Well, anyways, lets wake the idiot up so that we can tell him of his new task."

* * *

AN: Neh, I had to leave you on cliffhanger because my sister won't stop jabbering about spam until I get off. I guess I'll be updating in a few days, and salut!


	2. Strange Girls and Annoying Fathers

AN(of doom): Grrr, less than 1000 words again, so another short one. I just didn't want to continue on, because what would happen next should really be in a chapter by itself. Please take some time to review, and good day! (It's 4:00 am right now, so I guess it's still night actually) I would also like to inform you that this story is the SECOND installation of the trilogy I working on. Hence, you should read the first one. The first one is titled The Crystal in a Spring. Click my name and it should come up under stories.

* * *

Freezing water splashed around his silver hair as he looked up to see a disgruntled father. 

"Just what _do_ you think you're doing? How did I get here so fast?"

"You're a month late…"

"Not, "Hi son, glad you're alive after a long journey"?"

Finally, he was recalling events. Horrible day, weird rapidash, strange woman, knocked ou-wait, where was she? Steven looked to the corner to finally see the same person he ran into, staring out the window at the rain that was now drizzling outside. Indifference shut out her face from the rest of the world, and the closed eyelids that he had see before turned into two eyes, one orange-gold and one misty blue.

"So what _did_ happen between you and Marine."

Now it was her turn to blow up, and, come to think of it, she looked like she had been blowing up most of the day.

"Are you _still_ rambling on about that old man!? I would never have a relationship with him! I mean he's…"

But her voice cut off there, and she clenched her fists before opening her mouth to say something more. She quickly thought better of it though, pulling a black cloak around her long dress against the cold of the window.

"Well, I guess this would be a good time to introduce Marine, she'll be working with you."

"For what?"

"Well, you are aware that we need to ship some products to Jhoto, right? Well, you two will be guarding it. Team Magma has been attacking cargo ships lately for supplies, and we're lucky that Lances daughter can help, because all we all know that you certainly wouldn't handle it correctly."

Steven jumped when he felt a cold hand touch him, and Marine retaliated and blushed, clenching her teeth when she saw he was surprised. But no before putting her plan into action to make the head of the company stop.

"You know, even _my_ father, the dragon master, is nicer to me than _this_ sad excuse of a father."

"Okay fine, I'll stop, but only because you like him."

With that the immature director moved along running into his office and locking the door before either of them could do bodily harm to him. He shouted directions between the hard wood that made up his door though.

"You're leaving tomorrow, and get your sea legs working, it'll be at least three months until you see land again!"

"It shouldn't take that long to get to Jhoto! What _else_ are you making us do father!?"

And Marine took the sarcastic approach, what a surprise.

"Great…who else is coming?"

"Yes, we can't guard a whole boat with two people."

"No sir you can't. That's why you'll be traveling with Bill, you must know of him, right? And his wife is tagging along too, I think her name's Flicker…no, Flame maybe? Something of the sort."

"You can't even remember her name! I think your brains is deteriorating..."

Mr. Stone's secretary looked over to where they were seemingly talking to a door. She muttered a bit, although no one could tell what she was saying.

"You've got that right."

"Her name's Ember, I told you I'd remember!"

"You probably have the file right in fron-"

Steven looked quickly over to Marine but stopped as he wanted to know what was wrong. She stood there at the door, looking a bit bewildered and dejected. Marine soon closed her eyes to bar herself further from him.

"Well, anyway, go away before I make you share a cabin."

Knowing that he defiantly meant it, the two frantically ran away from the door, trying to head different directions in disgust.

* * *

Marine quickly walked away from the old man, thinking about what he just said. 

'She never even told me, am I that horri-of course I'm not! I gave her the best of advice, and she can ignore it and get herself almost killed if she'd like to.'

She walked out the door of the building and started heading towards the library. The black haired woman ignored the frills and luxury of the big city library, and speedily went over to the section she was looking for.

"Then again, I wish them the best of everything. I just don't want her to get hurt…"

Someone in a black suit appeared in the corner of her eye and accidentally bumped into her.

"I'm sorry Marine."

The same grey eyes that she saw earlier started back at her, but the were a bit less flustered. His hand reached out to help her up. She touched it slightly, making both of their cheeks redden, but she pulled it back almost instantly, hiding her face.

"I am able to pick my self up, thank you very much! I'm not a baby learning how to walk you know."

Marine took no time in plucking up the books that lay scattered on the floor, and went across the hallway to a check out desk. Only then did he dare to say the next few words.

"Of course you aren't, you have enough pride for ten people."

* * *

Okay, I know this took awhile to get up, and was suprised when cappyandpashy4ever didn't knock me over the head at school. REVIEW, and the next one should be in a few days, or mabye even over the weekend. 


	3. Marime

AN: I'm pretty horrified by how short this chapter is, but the next one is guarenteed to be more than 1000 words. I just really wanted to get this chapter up because this account was dormant for about a month. I also wanted to leave the next events to another chapter, which will be titled "Dreams". And please, if you read this chapter and others, it would be REALLY helpful if you reviewed. This is my first time trying to write something remotely funny, so feedback is awsome. You can even post anonomous reviews if you'd really like to.

Well, I'm not going to stall you any longer...ON WITH THE STORY!

Samantha

* * *

Marine sat by the window, her eyes surveying the seascape, thinking once again about how she was going to go about talking to Ember once again. Since their childhood that had been spent together, so much had happened. Sparks was now thought dead of her own misguided greed, Marine chose not to trust anyone, and Ember was married happily. 

Her thoughts again returned to her present situation, and she sighed.

'She's afraid of me anyway, afraid of me because she can't understand what it means to be hurt. I wouldn't expect her to anyway, she's only known love. Avoid her, yes, that shouldn't be too hard.'

_Knock…_

_Knock…_

_Knock…_

"Ma'am, I'm here to give your job assignments."

'-Ments? I knew there was a catch to staying on this fancy ship. I certainly wouldn't have minded one job and a smaller room, but, of course, Devon products can only have the best cargo hold, even if it puts those passengers in danger…'

"…But why a cruise ship?"

"What?"

"Oh, right, you're still there. Come in."

"Marime is your name, yes?"

"No, it's Marine."

"I have the wrong cabin then."

"It's probably just a typo, can you read it to me? I'll know then."

"Nope, confidential information here."

"I forgot, my name is Marime, can I have my assignment now?"

"No! Your name is Marine, and you're trying to steal Marime's identity! In fact, there is no Marine on this ship to start with."

"Then that proves-"

"That you snuck on this ship! Come with me, you're going to have to pay a visit to the guard in charge of this quarter of cabins."

"I _am _the guard in charge of these cabins!"

"Of course you are. You're going to Ember!"

'And I'm hoping someone else is there, so that I'm not saved by the very person I'm trying to ignore.'

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Steven was carving at a piece of rock, coaxing it into the shape of a shell, when he heard yelling and the slam of something wooden. He put it down, making his way to the door, and putting his ear on it in time to hear rather annoyed voices.

"I guess Ember's not there. Well, I guess we're going down to Steven's room."

"Are you trying to create awkward situations for me? How about we reach an agreement, like, if you don't give me my assignments and leave me in peace, I'll break your arm!"

Steven rushed outside to see Marine glaring at a man who was looking closely at a list.

"Oh, that 'm' was just a smudge on the paper. Yes, you have the job of deck guard from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM. It says here that you also have to help the chef until 6:00 PM."

Marine looked like she was about to strangle the man.

"Wait, I only have five hours to sleep?! And what if I can't cook?"

"Don't worry, you'll probably just have to peel vegetables. Well, I have other lives to rui-jobs to give. Ta ta!"

He walked over but was promptly shoved without much avail by Marine, who slammed the door as soon as she reached her room at the end of the hall. Steven sighed.

"I have yet to figure out why she is this way."

He leaned against the wall.

"And why in the seven hells did that guy just say "ta ta?"

A figure grabbed his wrist and pulled him into a room before sighing.

"I guess you should know."

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Marine went into her room and collapsed on the bed.

'And yet I take it out on him. Great Marine, you've certainly gotten yourself in a fix now. Just ignore him.'

"Ignoring seems to be the answer to all things these days. I should get some sleep; maybe I don't have the miracle answer from 'just ignore him…'"

She didn't have time to respond to herself, because Marine had drifted into a fitful, nightmarish sleep.

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He was suddenly in a candlelit room with two people. One was a woman with brown eyes and flaming shoulder-length hair, and the other, wow that was Bill wasn't it? Steven quickly figured out that the other one was Ember, his wife.

"So, are you sure you really want to know?"


	4. Dream

As much as I love writing this story, I can't help but notice the review count that is still under 10. I won't threaten you with not putting up a chapter, but I really do enjoy reviews because they help me polish up my writing, and give me a confidence boost. :D You guys being writers and readers, you can understand how I feel. I do accept reviews from people without a username by the way.

I personally thought this chapter was pretty good, probably the best drama-wise that I've ever written. The beginning is a little iffy but it definatly gets better later. Happy Reading!

Samantha (Abloom)

Ember's eyes were cloudy. Why was she telling this guy? But, she answered herself. She didn't know exactly, but something about this incredibly random guy seemed right. Could he do it? Once again, she didn't know, but that doesn't mean she didn't hope.

'So are you sure you want to know?'

Why had she asked that question?

She forgot about the other people in the room.

"Yet another instinct question."

"Wait, what?"

This time it was Bill who responded for his wife.

"Nothing, so, do you really want to know or not?"

"Excuse me, but that is no business of mine, I'm sorry I asked."

With that Steven snatched his hand away and left, wondering why they thought he had something to do with it. He passed it off as a random event and went off to his shift of guarding the ship holding a sword that he still wasn't fluent with. Steven soon found that he had been locked in the room for about four hours.

"They must've knocked me out or something, I wonder what they were talking about. Speaking of that, where's Marine?"

He set off towards her cabin to see if anything was wrong with her. But Steven didn't know that she was sleeping, and dreaming…about Trust.

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She seemed a bit distracted as she knocked on the door. Sparks trusted that Magma slug of Marine's, although Marine quite foolishly had followed him, befriended him, and maybe even loved Maxie a bit, the Team Magma Boss, without even knowing his true identity and rank. And Maxie loved Sparks, not her sister, she knew that for sure. She didn't make the same mistakes as her sister, actually, concerning the current situation, Sparks' "beloved" older sister would be dead. Marine was a bitch anyway. Lost between two sisters, Sparks was the black sheep, and Marine apparently couldn't stand even having that, Sparks thought, knew, that bad thoughts were running through her mind constantly.

I was all Sparks' fault. Always.

She was expecting her. Marine trusted too much, and was about to learn of her flaw.

"Such an old fashioned girl thinking everyone is an angel. Pfft, she probably got it from our damned mother."

With a smile the door was soon opened, with a smile a knife was stuck through the older woman's back, and with a smile a couple walked off into the wilderness of the Sevii Islands, despite the fact that they were leaving behind a bloody body.

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Her dream was horrendous. Marine wanted nothing but to simply lash out at the man that stared at her during the last moments of blur before walking away, just as she slipped out of consciousness. Memories attacked her, fast-forwarding through the pain, almost enveloping it into one backbreaking strike, instead of weeks of agony.

Next she was guarding a boat going to Hoenn. Marine had been in her sleeping clothes, and being on a boat during the summer, the cotton was thin and white. While stepping quietly into the cabin after guarding, she found a mirror had been put in while she was gone.

Rage filled her eyes as her fingers traced painfully down a long, mourning scar that curled down her back. That was the exact moment that the sirens rang.

After quickly pulling a dress over her head, she made her way across the main hall, trying to get on to the deck through a staircase that surprisingly only had one of Magma's assassins blocking the way. Marine delivered a blow that shouldn't have been lethal.

It couldn't have been.

While she heard the sounds of Team Magma retreating on deck, Marine realized how the Grunt never fought back, and pockmarks covered the woman's skin. She found later that the assassin was frail and diseased enough to have died from the blow.

"I killed one who was weak…"

She then only let one tear loose.

"I am no better!"

Marine removed the mask on the woman's face. Sparks. The sisters never proved anything by violence, both cases done the same way, by rage.

That night in the ship that smelled of nothing but blood, she had a dream where she hated Maxie, she wanted to drain him of soul, but did not want to kill him. And in the cold cabin, she found that killing only made people weaker.

Falling asleep, constantly paranoid of his warm breath and hand on her neck, she found she could only lash out into the salty night air.

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He had quickly made his way to her cabin, knocking on the door before deciding to come in to make sure everything was fine after her getting hit in the head. As soon as Steven entered the dimly lit room, he heard ghostly words come from the corner.

"One who was weak, no better!"

He made his way towards the bed, finding that the voice was coming from near there.

"I killed one who was weak, I am no better!"

The words came from the mass of blankets on the bed, and although he could tell by now that it was Marine, Steven found the dreamy speaker to be almost crying. Mustering up enough courage, he put a hand on her neck, finding that the pulse was quickened, almost as if the speaker was lying.

By now her breathing was choky, gasping although tears were only falling serenely, almost as if she wanted to sob, but couldn't exactly, didn't want to, or was too afraid.

Steven remembered what had happened the first time he met her, the quickening of heart. She was beautiful to him, even now in her worried, crying state. He whispered in her ear that every thing was fine, and Marine's face told that she was comforted for a moment, knowing who he was.

A few seconds after in her sleep she was confused, and the knife at her belt pulled out and lashed at him.

Dang it, another cliffhanger. Well, once again, sorry it took so long, and I wish my friends Kate, Eliza, and Melissa a good and successful SAT practice. See you in the next exciting installment!

-Samantha (Abloom)


	5. Predictable Decision

Sam here! I thought this chapter was pretty good personally. Basically, this one explains about a half an hour in wonderful detail. Don't worry, it shouldn't get boring:D

By the way, to everyone who reads this story: I seriously need a few more reviews, and I don't mind if you're not logged in or don't have an account, you have things you want to say too!

Samantha (Abloom)

* * *

Her eyes simply stared into space eerily, with a blue eye hidden in a shadow and a gold eye glinting in the sparse light. His hand still held its place on her cheek, and droplets of blood seemed to float in the air before they splattered on the floor.

It stayed that way for what could have been an eternity, or only a few seconds. Marine's eyes traveled to the cut, and then to the knife, which she quickly dropped with a clang. Only then she seemed to come out of her stupor.

"Are you all right?"

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Steven defiantly couldn't have been more embarrassed. Here he was sitting on her bed, Marine leaning over him. Then again, she was fixing a cut, so it couldn't have mattered less to her. Although she did look a bit disturbed.

"Is everything okay? If you don't like blood I can fix it myself..."

Marine continued to wash away the rusty stains on Steven's cheek as if his lips had never moved. In fact, she very quickly became rough while scrubbing, to the point where Steven couldn't keep himself from grimacing.

Finally she snapped out of it, eyes growing soft again. The spheres changed as they widened in surprise, looking at the time.

"I'm sorry, it's already 11:30, and I've got guard duty."

Grabbing a leather bundle, Marine abruptly left.

"Bye?"

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She didn't want to think of what she did to Steven. But Marine had to. Two years was a long time, but every day added to her life made it seem closer and closer. This was simply the way of things. Marine had always regretted what Sparks thought of her. Killing her was a different story.

"It wasn't supposed to happen. Both things."

How was she ever going to do anything now? She almost decapitated the only candidate for a friend Marine had had in a long time. He was now probably sitting downstairs, still on her bed, wondering what the hell was wrong with her. Every look that Steven gave her seemed to think that she was supernatural, as if he was confused about the very fabric of reality that resided inside Marine.

And it was this that just about tore her up.

In the pit of her stomach, something went around eating little pieces of her heart and soul. There was a chunk for her mother, a chunk for Sparks, a hate-filled chunk for Maxie, and now a chunk for Steven.

Only Steven seemed like a big black hole that sucked things away very slowly and painfully if he didn't feel comfortable around her. And, unfortunately, that monster seemed to be feeding right now.

But, maybe it was more the fact that she didn't want to hurt him, in doing that sacrificing something that was dear to her. That thing happened to be that Marine had to ignore Steven.

This had taken place before.

Deciding that she had thought enough on that topic, Marine quickly made her way up the pole and took out the bundle she had taken from her room. Inside, reddish wood glinted as her hands revealed a viola that she intended to play while keeping watch.

Knuckles glided along the strings while fingers caressed the bow. As would be expected, a sad melody emitted across the deck and cargo hold. Her arms and ears were extremely tuned into playing, so it was no problem for footsteps to walk along the wood and up the pole.

Quite predictably, a hand touched her shoulder, and Marine's heart lurched without knowing who it was. But no knife was raised.

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He could see that she avoided him for some reason; he could see that it hurt her too. But, what good is information like this that you couldn't follow simply because you didn't know _why_.

That was when Steven had heard the music emerging from the star splattered sky as he made his way up to the deck. Walking up to the plank where she sat, the tone became louder, groaning melancholically.

It was then that he finally felt imaginary daggers pierce his insides.

Ignoring the strange phenomenon, Steven continued his way up the ladder leading to the place where Marine sat. He reached out his hand…he reached out his hand and touched her shoulder.

As she whirled around it was surreal, her hair settling around her. Their eyes met, while sirens wailed, illuminating everything in a battlefield red. Marine stood up, avoiding the wide grey spheres set in Steven's face.

She was off again, pulling her hood over a black mass of hair and a darkish face. Noticing the situation, Steven jumped down after her, but after that moment, his eyes remained dead while running.

Along with the red lights already pulsating, an explosion boomed a mile off in the sea. This sent debris, smoke, and gas flying everywhere, illuminating a bright orange submarine that drifted below the ocean immediately.

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The next minutes ticked by slowly. Marine only remembered a few things later on.

A red charizard lifting off, carrying two people…

…Herself standing on the stern, mesmerized by the destruction…

…A lifeboat coming the next day announcing her father, Lance's, death…

…A hand that found its way to hers while Marine closed her eyes.

But alas, the only thing that really bothered her was the fact that she shook that hand away harshly.

* * *

Well, I didn't make you wait as long did I Shauna? I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will most likely be writing more next week, because my weekend is a bit full.

Samantha (Abloom)


	6. Lost

Dang, this chapter ended up running a bit short (Right now it's about 11:00 my time (K.O.ed)). People who have read the first addition in this trilogy, (A Crystal in the Spring) are probably sufficiantly confused. To make this story the wonder that it is, I had to change some of the plot details,so A Crystal in the Spring is completely irrelevant and outdated. Ignore the plot details in that oneshot for now, and it will be rewritten after this story is finished. (I plan for there to be about ten chapters in Distrust.) Aw well, I guess I will now say the usual: Please review and enjoy!

Samantha (Abloom)

* * *

Marine had simply walked away from the situation, kneeling down by the edge of the boat and staring at the water in respect. Ember sat there crying in Bill's arms to the right of her, and behind her she could feel Steven's worried gaze seep into the back of Marine's head. All she wanted to do was to be like any normal person and cry, but she wouldn't let herself do that, she couldn't. They'd know that she was afraid of the fact that they might try to hurt her too.

Steven seemed like a nice enough person, but her sister had too. Endless amounts of her heart and soul told her that wasn't the problem, that it was just a cover up for the real fact. She didn't want to share the burden of her sister's death with him. Marine wasn't going to lessen her own pain if it meant putting half of it on another person. Everyone else did it, but soon after Sparks' death, she started thinking it was disgusting.

Leather tapping was heard on deck and soon the captain walked over and spoke to the mourning guards. After many jokes that were supposed to cheer them up were taken unkindly, he sent them down to the sea bed to look for traces of the submarine that most likely belonged to Team Magma. Marine was glad to be sent away from her thoughts, and quickly beckoned the others over.

She quickly let out her dragonair into the water, and soon Steven was sitting right behind her on the scaly body. Marine waited for her sister and bill on his vaporeon before asking them to use bubble, providing air around them for the trip into the depths.

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Steven had felt guilt when he heard the news of the death. It felt so complete to be able to comfort her at this time, he felt that she was consoled by him, but for some reason, she still shook his hand away.

These were his thoughts while skimming the bottom of the ocean. Steven originally felt uncomfortable having simply an air bubble between him and drowning, but that fear was eventually smothered by the work of looking carefully through the waterscape for any sign of struggle or landing.

After working for about an hour, the groan of metal was heard, and everyone turned around to see that all of the water pokemon had scattered. A few seconds of awkward silence passed by before Marine decided that she was going to check it out.

But Steven wouldn't let her, not letting go of her waist.

This obviously annoyed her, but she saw why in a few seconds.

A rush of water pushed them away from the boat as the ship blew up. The ship and its cargo, all those people, were no more.

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While his body hung onto life, Steven saw what he thought could even be a vision, although it was anything but clear.

An angel with bluish wings and bi-colored eyes stood in a clearing. She was laughing, standing on her toes to hug a man with red hair. Things went blurry until the same man was seen with a woman adorning dirty blonde razor cut locks, kissing the woman before whispering something in her ear. She seemed to agree.

A few seconds later the blonde embraced the angel, showing friendship. The wings of the angel were soon cut off.

Days later he saw the wingless, scabbed angel sitting on a rock. A bandit came up behind her, but they were stopped by a simple punch to shoulders. Surprisingly, the bandit fell dead, and the angel seemed crazed by who the bandit was…

He never knew who the thief was, but the person he woke up to looked strangely like the angel in the foggy landscape.

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There were sputtering sounds crackling in Marine's ears as the figure resting on her lap turned on his side and coughed up water. Tears had been running down her face, but movement offered a chance.

"Steven, Steven? Are you alright?"

"What?"

Marine wanted nothing more than to just kiss him, like other times, but she wouldn't allow herself that liberty. My, she had thought that he might have been getting closer and closer to dying, she had thought that he was probably a goner, and all that Marine entitled herself to say at that point was a simple, "Good," or, "Thank You."

The thorns predictably started nabbing at her sides, wanting to at least hug him. But even with all of this emotional commotion, Steven looked bewildered despite sleep still hanging in his eyes, and looked like something was confusing him. After a comment or two about it by Marine, it hid back behind the pupils of his eyes, still there.

"So where exactly are we?"

She looked hopeless.

"If you're looking for a descriptive answer, you've asked the wrong person, because the closest I can get using intuition is somewhere in between Hoenn and Jhoto."


	7. Room of Blood

This is Sam again! And it is very late...again. Amazing, I seem to not be able to write all day until about 9:00 PM. Well, I'm sorry to say that Distrust is coming to a close. Don't get me wrong, not in this chapter:D This chapter leads up to the climax, which will last one or two chapters. After that there will probably be an epilogue.

To tell you the truth, I barely have a clue on what I'll do next. I probably will spiff up the first installment of this trilogy and the first few chapters of this story. After that I will definatly work on another project to clear my mind before doing the third installment of the story. But all of this is liable to change. Actually there's a 110 chance that it will. You say that isn't possible? Cappyandpashy4ever will probably be glad to state that I failed sixth grade math, as she's done in public before.

Samantha (Abloom)

* * *

They were lost.

They had been so for at least a month.

It all started when Marine had decided reluctantly that they should go try to find Ember and Bill. Steven knew why she didn't want to, for there was a large chance that they were dead.

He also harbored the memory of waking up to Marine's tearful face, she had thought he had died too. Steven relished the thought…she had cried for him.

And his dream while unconscious, that was certainly odd. Steven couldn't connect the angel to anyone he might know so far, but it was almost as if he had been suffering with the blue winged creature.

Dream or no dream, death or no death, Steven and Marine crawled idly through the undergrowth without so much as one word, creating a pregnant silence. A path soon came into view, but Marine had stopped once she saw it. She continued after a few seconds, but had no intention of telling him of her reasoning which, predictably, Steven questioned.

"Are you alright?"

"This place just remin…"

She had stopped, and as he looked up, Steven saw a small abandoned cottage in a clearing. It simply registered in his mind as 'shelter.' He couldn't tell what Marine thought of it though. She just stood there staring into space as he went up to it, thought inclining him to look quickly inside before beckoning her in.

He started to go to a window…

"Stop!"

But it was too late, a blood-splattered mess lay before him.

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Everything was wrong from the start. The path was familiar, along with the house. Blood was a dead giveaway. She felt guilty for not telling him, why shouldn't he have known? Marine knew why of course, she'd have to tell him everything by the time it got to that point.

And she wouldn't do that, it was unthinkable.

Steven could tell that Marine understood this, but all she could offer him was,

"I've had some problems in the past."

Knots braided in her stomach as Steven grew confused.

"What kind?"

"The bad kind."

His expression changed again, this time a handsome face contorted in disappointment…

"The kind you can't trust me with."

"Exactly the point I was about to make."

…twisting again into that of indifference, pretending not to care.

"I see."

She wouldn't have been surprised if that lie had ended up killing her.

Had her brain not been working, Marine would have flung her arms around him in an embrace as he turned away from her. That Marine would have cried for hours and told her tragic story before offering, "I love you." She would not even acknowledge the fact that he might turn her down. That wouldn't happen anyway to the other Marine, for her life was, again, the exact opposite of the living, breathing, although almost rock-like Marine.

Instead she just chose to kick in a window of her own old home, and soon the two sat right across from each other, avoiding each other's gaze in an attempt to get to sleep.

But whenever grey orbs found their way to blue and gold ones for a few seconds, she could see that they were extremely pained.

'No matter sad he is, he'd be sadder having me, loving me. And who said he loved me? Steven's probably just worried the way that he'd be worried for a friend.'

Over and over those words were repeated in her head in thousands of ways, not having any affect. The monster still ate at her heart, even while in the room of blood.

Once again she imagined cuddling up next to him against cold floors and red walls painted with rusty stains. That wasn't the way things went for her though. She was forced to look at the person Marine needed most while in a room of everything she wished she could throw away.

That night it was impossible to get to sleep. At one point near midnight she couldn't take it anymore, just looking at him hurt. Crying herself eventually to sleep, only Steven noticed her tears, thorns spilling into his gut as a result.

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Everything confused him deeply, and every part of him just wanted to know what was going on. How could he comfort her while not knowing that?

Marine had been crying, no doubt about it. Who wouldn't? She lost her father and might have lost Ember and Bill, but something else bothered her all the same.

Such sad tunes he had heard only a few nights ago. That same night she had also lashed out at him, although peace had blessed her face for a few seconds following Steven's comfort.

Such sad eyes she had given him the first day they had met, when Marine wanted nothing to do with him. Now it seemed like she wanted everything to do with him, it's just that some instinct inside her said no.

Such sad tears accompanied the night before, and something drove through his heart as Steven realized he could do nothing about it. She wouldn't accept him, she couldn't trust him.

He loved her; Steven could see that as they walked along the path. He had lagged behind to think after Marine had shook away another hand on her shoulder that had offered comfort.

After awhile Steven caught up just in time to see an intricate orange secret base unfold around him.


	8. Entering the Base

It's really been a long time since I've updated this. Two months, or something of the sort. I really connected to this chapter, and I would love it if you dropped a review. If you aren't able to do that, just do me a favor and enjoy this story. I put my heart, hopes, and dreams into this.

There will be one chapter after this, and then a chapter-sized prologue. I'm not going to take anymore of your reading time, so enjoy!

Samantha (Abloom)

* * *

At first he thought that she just wasn't going to acknowledge it for awhile, but she just kept treading on. You'd think someone would notice if the climax of their journey had appeared suddenly in front of their eyes. But, Marine just went on as if there was nothing but the same vines and poorly kept paths ahead of her.

Steven wondered what she could have been like, or what she was before whatever had happened. Everyone was a careless schoolgirl once, right? Something had to have been better before a changing point. Marine had to have smiled once or twice.

The person he loved had to have been happy at some point, even if it was in naivety. Or had she?

Had she even, he doubted Marine would be happy with him. Years of struggles and scars can't be reversed with anything. He couldn't even try, for the fact that he wasn't certain he'd be there for her, forever. If Marine did love Steven, he would break her heart. That was the truth, what was most likely going to happen.

But his mind was soon cleared with duty. He couldn't afford to mess up over a fleeting thought that wasn't realistic.

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Marine didn't know why she was going this direction. She should be going along the shore, not into the jungle. But she remembered this place well, and was in no hurry to find her sister's dead, bloating body.

"Marine?"

"Y-yes?"

Crap, her voice was cracking.

'I'll just tell a white lie, like all of the other times he's asked me about these things. It's all better in the long run for him.'

"Should we go inside the Magma base?"

"Why not?! We're on the way."

There was that fake cheer. She offered a smile, but Steven just turned away, eyebrows twisted. She had a strange effect on him that seemed to hurt his body.

But she didn't turn back. That would show her face.

"It would be nice if you didn't lie to me!"

Marine pretended not to notice.

"We're partners. What would happen if your 'secrets' that you keep pitted against your life!? You might just have to trust me sometime, because obviously it's effecting how this situation is working!"

She suddenly felt a hand go to her back to turn her around, but this time she didn't hold back and left an ugly gash across it. Her heart cried out.

He didn't let go. He acted like nothing had happened.

"Why do you run away from these things?"

"Because it doesn't concern you! Don't you get it? It has more problems than benefits to tell you! I could've a long time ago, but I can't!"

Despite the blood dripping down his hand, he had calmed down by now.

"Then just do me a favor."

Steven still couldn't see Marine's face.

"Tell me why you can't."

She tore away from him and ran towards the base. He was the only one left to make camp.

Steven's brain immediately responded; traitor, but his heart cried out in opposition. And his eyes, in turned, moaned desperately with it.

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Marine wasn't an option anymore, she wasn't with him, and he had to think that she was a traitor. That was the only thought his body allowed him to believe.

And so he went on to the base, he had a duty. Of course, it was originally to protect the ship from Team Magma, but destroying the source was better, and less futile. He couldn't do it alone, but he'd find a way to help, to resist. It probably meant dying, but life wouldn't be worth living once he got back.

Sure, he had traveled, but not through the roller coasters of emotions that led him now. Coming back to normal life would be a step backwards, and Steven couldn't handle that, such a journey that results only in being catapulted back to step one.

That thought just seemed worthless, so much so that he already felt dead. He wouldn't know what life would have been like with Marine, because he was never allowed to see the real her, except through little flashes. And yet, he had already fallen in love with her. He could see that now, and it thrilled him. But then, Steven was forced to remember that Marine didn't exist anymore. That's what his brain said.

After many rotations of this, he found the door inside. It was open, a coincidence really.

All the halls were clear,

all of the cameras off.

"A tr-mph!"

Everything was dark as someone stripped him of his sword and pokemon.

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When he woke up, there was only one weak light bulb on in the room, providing white, artificial light. In disgust he turned it off, preferring the dark.

"Oh, are you up?"

His head hurt, but he turned over to the brick that was missing out of the wall to his right.

"Can I talk to you about something? I just need to get it off my chest before I die."

Immediately Steven became alert, and started answering quickly in a calm tone that he hoped would soothe the scraggly female voice talking to him.

"Yes, I wouldn't mind doing so, if it is to give you comfort."

Something dragged along the floor on the other side.

"There was a man I loved, and I didn't tell him the truth because I knew it would hurt him. But could you tell me one thing?"

Smacks were heard as someone came down the steps, unlocking the door slowly.

"If I can."

"Would it have hurt him more to see me suffer on my own, or for him to suffer with me?"

The door opened, spilling light into the cells, and the locks were rattling on the enclosure next to him.

"If he loves you, he would just want to be with you, no matter how much it hurt."

A long exhale floated out of the woman's body as they opened her door.

"A silver-haired man will come into this base as a prisoner soon. Just tell him I love him."

Steven's breath caught.

He just didn't want to hurt her, she would be embarrassed and secluded even further in her death if she knew that the cell to her left housed Steven Stone.

"I'll make sure to. I'm sure he loves you too, positive."

The last thing he saw was a bloody body slowly walking up the stairs, for she would not be pulled.


	9. Sparks

Last chapter...but! Not to worry. There's a prologue coming out in the next week, so don't think that the end is...the end. Please remember to review and enjoy this chapter!

Samantha (Abloom)

* * *

The next words she heard were _his_, and the immediate answer that her brain gave her was 'Run Away!' She wanted to stay and fight him despite the fact that she was bleeding to death, which was stupid.

By the time Marine had gotten to that point, the guards smashed her against the stone wall to let a man in a red cloak pass.

"Sir, we are about to euphemize his one, but she has no I.D. Do you recognize this guard from an earlier mission?"

A hot hand reached out and grabbed Marine's chin, and immediately it started shaking.

"Take her up to the room, but wait until I get there."

There was a chorus of "Yes sir!" from the two.

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The thought hit him hard as another pair of guards came to get him.

'Marine is dying, or dead.'

He ran through the gate, but was quickly caught by the Magma head.

"Ah, Steven Stone, I didn't think that you'd still be alive after that 'accident'."

A guard piped up.

"Sir, he was on the same ship as the other woman. Should we take him up too?"

"No. Put him in the room down the hallway for ransom."

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir."

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'It's him.'

Marine was dragged at a slow pace to the room, which laid a couple of hallways away from the holding area she had been in before. She had figured that she'd have a few minutes of silence before Maxie would come in, but hat wasn't the case.

He was waiting for her.

As soon as she sat down, his confused eyes scanned her body, but whenever she tried to make eye contact, Maxie avoided the situation.

Finally, after a few minutes of staring, he spoke.

"Why are you haunting me?"

"What?"

"You're dead, Sparks ran you through."

She didn't answer for awhile.

"You're just a ghost, it's impossible for you to be alive."

No answer again.

'' '' '' '' '' '' ''

'I guess I have enough of a lead, so those guards shouldn't find me.'

Steven became attracted to a door to his left where he could hear Maxie talking.

'Maybe she's in there.'

'' '' '' '' '' '' ''

"Remember? I thought Sparks had killed you. And then you appeared once more to kill her!"

A tear escaped from Marine's eye.

"I didn't try to kill her!"

"It doesn't matter."

"Don't say that! Didn't you love her!?"

"People fall out of love."

The very time stopped for the next few words.

"That man you love down there, if he even loves you back (The thought!) will eventually turn on you like I did. It's life. And he'll hurt you."

Her hands shook.

"At least tell me, why did you have to kill her?"

"You're the one who actual-"

"You know what I mean!"

"She loved me too much, it was disgusting. Sparks needed to die, just as you needed to."

Maxie brushed the dust off of his shoulder casually as more tears fell from Marine's face.

"Maxie?"

"What?"

"I only fell in love with your mask, but Sparks loved the person behind it. You couldn't deal with her seeing through that, and became a coward."

"Shut up you damn ghost!"

His sword went through her shoulder, trying to dispel Marine. Crimson droplets went down her sleeve.

"You're not a…"

It was then that Steven burst inside the room, and Maxie quickly recovered from the prior realization. He quickly saw Marine about to get up and took the opportunity to slash at her again.

A jolt of pain hit her ankle.

"You were always such a bitch, like your sister. Except you just won't die, will you!?"

This time someone else went in the way of the blow, and she blacked out.

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'She knows.'

That was all he could think about as he pulled his blade out and pushed it through her.

Maxie often wondered what life would be like if he hadn't killed Sparks. Of course, Marine would still be hurt, but maybe he wouldn't still be doing this.

In his world now, where love was dry, money tried to replace it. But in vain.

He could have killed Steven…but he didn't. Maxie chose to die, almost as if doing so and not killing could avenge his own murder of Sparks.

He had killed Sparks, not Marine. She was guilt ridden now, but it was his fault more than anyone.

The thought that she was waiting for him up there right now killed him swiftly and painlessly.

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Everything seemed very confusing. At least her wounds were being taken care of properly, but in the same hospital room, Steven laid down, still not awake.

"I hurt him, but he did it to help me."

"Maybe this is an analogy that fate gave you."

Marine jumped a bit and then saw that it was Steven.

"Oh, hello. Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Marine's hands played with her sheets nervously.

"What is it?"

"There was a man who told me something before they sent me upstairs."

She looked a bit downcast about what he was stating.

'Maybe what Maxie said has some merit.'

Steven sighed and decided that he would have some fun with this.

"He said that he saw you through the bars and thought you were very sexy."

"WHAT!?"


	10. Epilogue: Don't Let me be Lonely

It's sad knowing that this story is finally ending, after about a year's worth of planning, plotting, and writing. I also don't know what the hell to write next, so that may prove to be a problem.

Thank you to all of my reviewers, who have helped me refine my writing style, and the such! And a special thank you to cappyandpashy4ever (Melissa), the reviewer (And school friend) who introduced me to and eventually became my beta.

I really love this chapter, and I think it ends the story well. So enjoy, and drop a review!

* * *

At first, the thought seemed vague, like she didn't actually believe that it happened. 

'He saw me?'

Then it finally set in.

'He saw me!'

Currently Marine was running down the center of Mossdeep, looking for the right dock, where her ship should be boarding currently. She glanced behind her to see the man advancing quickly.

'And he's following me? Crap..."

As Marine approached the ferry, she quickly realized something.

"It's…It's leaving!"

In desperation and fear, she jumped into the water, hoping to get on the boat and escape her pursuer.

'Damn incorrect watch!'

As water splashed around her, she wondered why she just had to run away. Lack of oxygen made her head spin as Marine kept trying to think fruitlessly.

'He knows and hates me for it.'

Arms wrapped around her and pulled her up as she screamed, letting all of the air out before closing her eyes.

'' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ''

'I wonder what she's doing now; maybe she's a bit lonely?'

Steven quickly paid for his fruit, and left the vendor for another. There was silence as he stopped in the middle of the market.

'Maybe I'm lonely?"

The woman in front of him was buying salve for her pokemon, and she asked the owner what would be best for a dragonair.

"Well lady, you have an expert behind you! Ask him, I'm busy…."

She turned around quickly to see him, and he didn't even get a chance to see her face before she bolted off.

And, quite stupidly as it seemed to himself, he ran after her as she headed off towards the dock.

They both got tired, and the black-haired woman glanced behind her so that Steven could barely make out her face.

"Marine!"

She jumped in right before he closed the distance between them. He didn't wait to think, and dived in after her, ignoring the bubbles as she screamed in frustration.

The next thing he knew, Marine laid on his bed, but not peacefully, because as Steven left the room, tears poured once again from her eyes.

The blue-winged angel was crying as if she thought no one was there.

"_I killed one who was weak, I am no better!"_

Steven remembered that night vividly while Marine's back heaved from stifling her tears in her sleep.

_He remembered what had happened the first time he met her, the quickening of heart. She was truly beautiful to him, even in her crying state. _

The man reached over and stroked her hair.

'I can surely do this as a friend, right?'

Steven then released her, parting through the door with an inaudible 'Good Dreams.'

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She awoke drearily from the sheets, barely remembering what happened, and immediately traded her ripped and soaked dress for the pajamas lying on the chair.

"Wait…pajamas?"

An elderly woman promptly broke through the door and almost pushed Marine into bed.

"Yes, pajamas!"

After the younger woman recovered from shock, she quickly remembered seeing Steven.

"Ahh, uh, well I really need to get off this island."

"Nope! My boss says you need at least five days of rest after that shock. Who wouldn't after all!?"

Before Marine could explain, the maid started talking again.

"You're _lucky_ that Nartha Hubbins, maid of Steven Stone, is here to take care of you."

"Ste…ven Stone?"

"She finally gets the general idea of the situation! Are you mentally ill or something!?"

Marine dizzily covered her head with the bedspread and started to sleep again, hoping that would bring an answer.

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Steven was currently sitting in his living room with a cup of now-cold tea in his hands.

"Do I really love her so much that I've been sitting here, thinking about her for the past two years while she's been absent from my life?"

He could now hear the commotion in the next room before utter silence yet again. The fire crackled its non-existent reply.

"Why did she have to change her mind? She sounded so sincere at the brink of her death! Then again, who wouldn't be…?"

"_A silver-haired man will come into this base as a prisoner soon. Just tell him I love him."_

Steven's heart wrenched and he put his head in his hands.

"I'm just so lonely without her."

He quickly went into the hall, and found himself in his room again, where Marine was residing.

And there on the left side of the room on his bed, crouched a big, grey lump where someone almost hid under the covers.

"Marine?"

Either she was acting like she was sleeping or she actually was sleeping, Steven couldn't tell.

He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to wake her up. Surprisingly, she did almost immediately, words flying from her mouth and tear marks streaming down her face.

"Nartha! Please, I just need to get away from your bo—"

There was awkward silence as Marine crawled back under her covers so that her face stuck out onto the pillow, and Steven fingered the blanket.

".."

"…Could you please just tell me the truth?"

Steven's comment rushed through Marine's mind as she put it bluntly.

"I loved people who…couldn't love me back. You know the rest."

"No, I don-"

"You heard it through the door!"

She now had tears running down her cheeks.

"You think I'm a monster now! I _killed_ my sister, think of the life she could have led with him! She could have been in love! Ember died because she just was checking up on me, so did Bill…I'm killing everyone!"

"Go back to sleep, you're not thinking straight…"

"See?! The man in the dungeon was wrong! He told you the real thing, I can tell from the way you're acting. You can't even _try_ to be friendly with me…"

"At least I didn't go back on my word! You'd think someone, at the brink of their death, would actually tell the truth about their love!"

"What?"

"I don't know what happened, but you're the one who avoided me. _You're_ the one who decided to run away from me on the dock, and chose a watery death over conversing with me!"

Marine strangely got calm at that moment.

"I know it hurts you. Even being in the same room, it hurts."

"It only hurts because you're so far away! It's lonely, knowing you just _can't _love me back, for whatever reason! The man that you talked to in the dungeon was so sure about my feelings because they were his. You were speaking, confessing to me, and it only hurts knowing that you changed your mind because you were still afraid of hurting me!"

He continued on while both of them had tear-stained faces.

"But you can only hurt me by hurting yourself."

Steven gathered her up in his arms, and could feel her fast heart against his before he quickly released Marine and walked away. He turned around as soon as he heard whispers.

"I just couldn't hurt another loved one. Another person I love immensely, still. I'm just realizing that keeping the pain from the others…"

Steven walked back over to the bed and kissed her, their fingers intertwined.

"…Is what killed them."

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Nartha blushed wildly when she walked in on the two, kissing serenely, and immediately rushed over and whacked Steven on the head with a magazine from the table.

"Whatever happened to, 'She needs a lot of uninterrupted, peaceful sleep'!? Oh sweetie, he hasn't done anything unpleasant to you, has he?"

"U-u-um, n-no, I'm j-just a bit sh-shaken up."

Realization hit the maid.

"Aww, Mr. Stone's son is _finally_ a man! I remember when he was running naked all over the house when he was younger! And now, here he is, finally creating an heir!"

"Oh no, he just kissed me…"

"Took you long enough, Mr. Stone! You're thirty!"

"What do you mean, _creating an heir_!?"

Nartha quickly ran out of the room to phone the older Stone, while there were two bewildered people left on the bed. After a few seconds in the dark, someone finally decided to say something.

"I've got to go straighten things out, so have a nice night."

"It doesn't hurt anymore, loving you."

They embraced and their hearts leapt once again, but this time, they jumped together.


End file.
